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June 28th, 2011

Shrinking Cities: [VIDEO] In Youngstown, it takes a village to shrink a city
Hear some voices from Youngstown, Ohio, which has lost more than half its population and has an ambitious plan to rebuild through shrinking.

Shrinking Cities: [VIDEO] Youngstown, Ohio: The incredible shrinking city
How do the industrial cities of the Rust Belt deal with massive population losses? Youngstown, Ohio, is trying to return the city to its former greatness, albeit on a smaller scale.

Shrinking Cities: [VIDEO] The Land Banker from Flint
Post-industrial cities are facing steep population loss and vast expanses of abandoned property - a phenomenon known as "shrinking." Dan Kildee. president of Community Progress and a leader in the Shrinking Cities movement. talks to Alison Stewart about the need for a national agenda, and the mental shift Americans will need to make before they stop seeing downsizing as failure.

Shrinking Cities: [VIDEO] In Youngstown, a house now abandoned was a home
Filmmaker Derrick Jones documented his own family's history in one house in Youngstown, Ohio. The film "631" chronicles the many good times over the years, as well as the difficulties in maintaining the house with little income, especially after two fires. It is the story of one house, now abandoned, that was once filled with life.

April 25th, 2011

Profiles from the Recession: [VIDEO] Ed Rendell on building the next America
‘ObamaRail’ has quickly become the new ‘ObamaCare.’ Much like last year’s divide on healthcare reform, Republicans and President Obama again find themselves at odds; this time on whether or not to build a nation-wide high-speed rail network. Former Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell, a democrat and co-chair of Building America’s Future, makes his case for spending now on modernizing the nation’s infrastructure.

April 18th, 2011

America in Gridlock: [VIDEO] Lisa Margonelli on kicking the American oil habit — ‘We can really change our behaviors’
Energy policy expert Lisa Margonelli is the author of a book about the oil supply chain, "Oil On the Brain: Petroleum’s Long Strange Trip to Your Tank." In this interview, Need to Know's Alison Stewart speaks to Margonelli about U.S. energy policy in the wake of the BP spill. "The oil problem is so huge and so multi-tentacled and so involved in our lives," said Margonelli. "People are hungering for sort of bigger, more technological fixes… But I think we’ve overlooked the social engineering. Which is that we can really change our behaviors quite quickly – and we often times do change our behaviors."

April 2nd, 2011

Shrinking Cities: [VIDEO] Camden, an impoverished city, struggles to survive budget cuts
One of the poorest, most violent cities in our nation recently lost half its police force. PBS Need to Know visits Camden, N. J., to see the challenges on the ground and explore possible solutions for the city.

January 28th, 2011

Profiles from the Recession: [VIDEO] A Place Called Home — The graying of suburbia
American infrastructure, one of the central themes of President Obama's State of the Union address this week, isn’t the only thing that’s aging. Baby boomers are too. This year, the first baby boomers turn 65 -- and many will celebrate their birthdays in neighborhoods that were not designed for senior citizens. We’re talking about America’s suburbs. They were ridiculed as a bastion of conformity in the song “Little Boxes.” But in fact, some communities are breaking away from suburban sameness in order to make the infrastructure changes that baby boomers are about to require. Correspondent Maria Hinojosa has this Blueprint America report.

January 14th, 2011

Profiles from the Recession: [VIDEO] Off the Rails
Sometimes responsibility is in the eye of the beholder. For example, what is the best way to invest in the nation's infrastructure? In the state of Wisconsin, the governor declined $810 million worth of federal stimulus money for a high speed rail initiative because he says the state couldn't afford to maintain the system and that money should be spent on roads, not rail. However, in Illinois, the governor sees his responsibility differently. A look at the future of passenger rail.

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